State Starts To Recover After Blizzard

JENNY WILSON and SHAWN BEALSHartford Courant

While many roadways were at least passable by Sunday night, the outlook for the week was less clear as most towns decided to keep their schools and municipal offices closed Monday, the governor urged employees to work from home and the state braced for another storm. At least three businesses -- The Hartford, Traveler's and Aetna -- took the governor's advice and said employees who can work remotely should do so Monday. Nonessential state employees also are urged to stay off the roadways, which could become dangerous again if Monday's threatened storm delivers on projected icy rain. "If you can help us hold down the traffic for another day or so, we can continue to make significant progress [plowing]," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said during his 6 p.m. conference Sunday night. He also urged people who are going into the office to carpool, noting that many lots are only partially plowed. Noting that snow removal has been particularly difficult in some towns, Malloy said that the state is sending up to 65 pieces of machinery to towns to aid in snow removal by the end of Monday. "I know that people are impatient, but I remind everyone that this is a record snowfall, the likes of which our state has not seen since the 1880s," Malloy said. "Moving the snow piles is going to take some heavy equipment. The point is everyone is working hard. I've seen it myself." Drivers are encouraged to be very cautious, particularly since icy rain could turn the piles of snow into something as hard as "jersey barriers," Malloy said. The death toll from the storm increased to seven Sunday night. Meriden police said a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning after sitting in a car almost entirely covered with snow with the engine running. Police said an official cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner. Their names were not released. State police reported that they had responded to more than 400 car crashes, 36 of them with injuries, as of Sunday night, and Hartford Hospital reported Sunday that its hyperbaric chamber was full of patients with carbon monoxide poisoning. Officials warned again that anyone in a car that is stuck must make sure that the exhaust pipe is clear. Officials around the state estimate it could be days, a week -- or even more, in some areas -- before things return to normal, longer if conditions are complicated by a storm Monday and possibly Thursday. Roof collapses are a particular concern as rain could add significant weight to snow already stressing structures, such as a Tolland dome covering athletic facilities that collapsed overnight Sunday, the NAPA warehouse in Middletown and a cow barn in Middlefield, both of which collapsed Saturday. Officials in some towns said school buildings would be checked for snow-related stress, and they urged residents to use caution if they decided to clear their roofs themselves. Similarly, residents decided to clear their streets themselves with personal snowblowers and small pickup trucks, as happened Sunday in Middletown and Bristol. "We have a lot of employees who live in neighborhoods that still aren't plowed out, and when you factor in the Hartford streets ... it's a double challenge," Aetna spokeswoman Susan Millerick said, noting that Aetna isn't planning on opening until noon Monday and that, depending on weather conditions in the morning, employees may not be required to report to work at all. Any employees who can work from home are being encouraged to do so, she said. Like Aetna, The Hartford is allowing employees to work remotely if they have the capability, although company offices in Hartford, Simsbury and Windsor will be open. "We are encouraging our employees, particularly from the Hartford campus, to work remotely if they can," said Shannon Lapierre, spokeswoman for The Hartford Financial Services Group. "We're hoping it will help reduce traffic in and around Hartford to give the city time to clear the streets." The morning commute -- already complicated in coastal towns hit by the worst snowfalls -- will be hampered further by a restricted commuter train schedule. Metro-North Railroad's New Haven to Stamford trains will operate at about half the usual weekday service level, and the Waterbury line will be closed. Four of the five regular Danbury line trains will be in operation, and the New Canaan line will resume service, Metro-North said in a news release. Stamford to Grand Central Terminal trains will run on a normal schedule. Another piece of welcome news: President Barack Obama on Sunday signed a declaration of emergency for Connecticut, providing the state federal aid for storm recovery. Malloy had requested the declaration on Saturday. The declaration means the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide emergency assistance, which could come in the form of snow removal equipment, personnel and power generation, among other resources. State agencies, municipalities and some nonprofits will also receive federal funding for 75 percent of the cost of emergency response measures over a 48-hour period.